One of the things I'm developing in my new role at the Skokie Public Library is internal leadership training. So this morning, I was reading Leading Change by John P. Kotter, which is a really fantastic book, but it got me thinking.

​I realized that almost all the books I've read on leadership until this point have been written by white men. And as I started looking around a bit, I found that whole lot of what is considered to be classic writting on the topic is pretty white and very male. So I did what I always do in times like this - I asked for help.

The responses and feedback (which are still coming) are outstanding. And a few really excellent points were brought up within the conversation. First, lots of texts that revolve around leadership topics by women and people of color are not considered books about leadership, which is frustrating but also makes them harder to find. And the books that are "leadership for the rest of us" type stuff are often about changing yourself to fit into a patriarchal structure. Two of my favorite library leaders and friends put it this way.

This means there is no quick fix for finding these resources. Which leads me to this post. Here is a collection of what was suggested. I'll add more as more things get suggested and hopefully this will become a living list. And if you have any thoughts or resources, please share them in the comments below. I'll work them into the list too.

The work of Barbara Kellerman, particuarly the books Followership, The End of Leadership, and Bad Leadership: What it is, How it Happens, and Why it Matters: http://bit.ly/2gE1SMf

The work of Adrianna Kezar, especially the article: Kezar, A., & Carducci, R & Contreras-McGavin, M. (2006).Rethinking the “L” word in higher education: The revolution of research on leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. For more: http://www.adriannakezar.com/